Bringing STEM to You.

1st Maryland STEM Festival Summary Report

November 6 - 15, 2015

STEERING COMMITTEE

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Tammy ShayHost Co-Chair

Maryland Out of SchoolTime (MOST) Network

Phil RogofskyDirector & Logistics Chair

STEMulating Minds

Colleen D’AgrosaHost Co-Chair

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Bill DuncanAt-Large Member

STEMaction

Dwight CarrAt-Large Member

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Tanesha BoldinAt-Large Member

Girls and STEM

Dr. Tara EbersoleMarketing & Communication Co-Chair

Community College of Baltimore County

Dr. Kim Pause TuckerMarketing & Communication Co-Chair

Stevenson University

The Maryland STEM Festival Planning Committee consists of members from diverse STEM organizations across the state:

Dr. Stewart EdelsteinExecutive Director

Universities at Shady Grove

Brian DulayExecutive Director

Maryland Business Roundtable for Education

Donald FryPresident & CEO

Greater Baltimore Committee

Dr. Ed SchlesingerBenjamin T. Rome Dean

Whiting School of Engineering Johns Hopkins University

Chris ScoleseDirector

Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Ralph SemmelDirector

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Dr. Joshua StarrFormer Superintendent

Montgomery County Public Schools

Renee WinskyPresident & CEO

Leadership Maryland

Dr. Victor McCraryVP for Research &

Economic DevelopmentMorgan State University

Dr. Angela MoranLiaison

U.S. Naval Academy

Philip SchiffCEO

Tech Council of Maryland

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GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

SUPPORTERS

MEDIA FOUNDING

Maryland STEM Festival would like to thank our sponsors:

Grace Stevenson University

Prince George’s Community College

MDBIO & Prince George’s County Public Schools

Salisbury University

Carroll Community College

University of MarylandChildren’s Hospital

Towson University

Coppin State University

Bricks4Kidz

Universities at Shady Grove

Frostburg State University

Cybercore Technologies

University of Maryland Baltimore County

T. Rowe Price Baltimore County Community College

ISSA Baltimore Chapter

GEICO KCI GeospatialSolutions

Child GuideMagazine

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We Bring the Festival to You.The Maryland STEM Festival provides inspirational, educational, and accessible programming in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) throughout Maryland. The Festival looks to create a Culture of STEM in Maryland.

With ten days of collaborative, interactive, and dynamic events and activities throughout the state, the Festival displays Maryland’s STEM success and further connects the current and future leaders in STEM. Event hosts include libraries, schools, universities and colleges, businesses, and museums.

The Festival provides STEM opportunities to all of Maryland without requiring them to travel significant distances. The Festival is open to all students regardless of ethnic or economic background or experience.

The U.S. is shifting focus to STEM job creation and the educational backbone needed to support these job markets. Maryland, with its unique placement near the Federal government and major metropolitan areas, has a particularly robust STEM environment.

The Festival is made possible though the generous support from funding and funding partners and through the participation of dozens of events hosted across the state.

WE WILL INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF STEM LEADERS.4

Festival Kickoff.

The Festival kicked off on November 5 at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Dwight Car, Gina Ellrich and the APL team put together an amazing program. Speakers included Congressman John Sarbanes, APL Director Dr. Ralph Semmel, Festival Director Phil Rogofsky, Lockheed Martin’s Stephanie Hill, Astronaut Paul Richards, and Renee Cohen from Senator Cardin’s Office. The Festival Gold and Founding Sponsors had displays and activities for the 250 + attendees. Students from across Maryland attended the Kick-Off Event.

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Featured Events.

The Third HoCo Math Festival.STEMulating Minds

Robot Pumpkin Smash.Eldersburg Branch Library

Exploring Light.

STEM Open Play.

The St. Mary’s County STEM Festival.

Third Annual STEM Expo.

University of MD Department of Physics

Chevy Chase Library

St. Mary’s Public Schools

Morgan State University

Café Groove: Maker Space.PG County Department of Recreation and Parks

Let’s Get STEMulated.The IBSS Education Team

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Statistics.

over

50,000 attendees

separate events.330

different venues.200

counties.22

1 spectacular festival.7

EVENTS

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The program celebrated the International Year of Light by educating and entertaining visitors with activities involving the dynamic nature of light as both a wave and a particle. Highlights included writing with light on the “glow wall” using high energy photons given off by violet LEDs or black lights, exploring optical illusions, and the mesmerizing patterns created by a moving magnet in a mixture of ferrofluid and glow stick fluid.

The Robo-Lions, a group of teens, brought their 6-foot-high metal machine built for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition game Recycle Rush. The robot was outfitted with a special platform that raised pumpkins into the air and dropped them onto a bed of long screws. One hundred and fifty-nine children, teens, and adults squealed, laughed, and applauded as each pumpkin was reduced to an ex-pumpkin!

University of Maryland Department of Physics presents

Exploring Light.

Eldersburg Branch Library presents

Robot Pumpkin Smash.

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Over 1,000 attendees explored how much fun math really is at Howard County’s “Party for Math”. The party included balloons, dragons, cheerleaders, magic and Jedi Knights. Students learned how math is involved in video games, cooking, sports, cryptography, cars, medicine and more.

STEMulating Minds presents

The Third HoCo Math Festival.

Girls and STEM Summit.2015 marked the 4th year of a Girls and STEM Summit. Minority middle and high school girls from various Baltimore City schools participated in a day-long hands-on summit where they learned how to extract DNA from a strawberry in the Monsanto Science session, learned to make a food app, maneuvered wearable technology used by the Dept. of Defense, and engaged in exhibitor booths. Each year the summit has a unique subtheme under the core “STEM is Everywhere” theme. Under Armour, CG, KIND bars, Let’s Move, and others provided items or information to support this years “STEM in Healthy Living” theme.

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This all-day event reached out to under-represented population. The event had over 35 different vendors, including Raytheon, Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Mathnasium, and a STEM Academy. Most vendors provided some kind of hands-on experience for the participants, while some were there to promote their company or organization. The estimated attendance of 250 was exceed by 120.

Staff led the pre-schoolers in a variety of activities while others explored on their own. Staff-led activities included a few experiments: Magic Milk (milk, liquid food colors and dishwashing liquid), Ocean in a Bottle (oil and colored water), and Swimming Spaghetti (baking soda and vinegar made strands of spaghetti “dance” in container of water).

St. Mary’s Public School presents

The St. Mary’s County STEM Festival and Expo.

Chevy Chase Library presents

STEM Open Play.

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Café Groove: Maker Space merged the Arts with STEM, and presented STEAM projects for all to enjoy. Participants explored these STEAM projects, and discovered new ways to create in the process. Youth and their families took part in six activities: Light Painting with LED paintbrushes, a Conductive Button Sound Station that created sound through touch, engineering Drawing Machines that draw by themselves, Beat Making, construction with Build-It! Disks, and Button Making. One team teen said “that the event felt more like a party than something educational.”.

The EXPO attracted over 50 exhibitors from STEM fields that included: the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the National Security Agency, and Fox 45 Weather Van. Over 450 students attended from Baltimore City and County, Anne Arundel County, Montgomery and Howard County public schools.

PG County Department of Parks and Recreation presents

Café Groove: Maker Space.

Morgan State University presents

The Third Annual STEM Expo.

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Testimonials.

For Rogofsky, however, the festival is less about jobs and test scores and more about making math fun.

As each decorated pumpkin fell to the ground, the crowd erupted in cheers and claps, rooting for the gourds to crack.

Laptops lined the second set of tables, though no one was using the keyboards to operate them. They used Makey Makey kits to build special controllers.

- The Baltimore Sun, Hands-on fun is more like ‘a party for math’

- Carroll County Times, Robots try smashing pumpkins at Eldersburg library

- MyEasternShoreMD, Festival highlights students’ STEM skills13

Step into the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

We need your financial support to make the Festival happen. Join a growing list of the state’s leading corporations, educational institutions, and charitable foundations that all support efforts to further STEM. They recognize the remarkable impact of STEM on our state’s economy and the quality of life for Marylanders.

Be a Sponsor.

It’s easy and it’s fun. Almost any organization can host any event! Just run an event that focus-es on explaining or showing the joy of an Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics element.

Be a Host.

Be a Participant.With over 300 events independently hosted across the state, there is something for everyone. Check out as many events as you can. Most of them are free!

For more information e-mail us at mdstemfest@gmail.com.

/mdSTEMFestmdstemfest@gmail.com @MDStem/marylandSTEMFestival

Join us November 4 - 13, 2016 for the 2nd Maryland STEM Festival